Trump Says Lebanon Explosion Was An “Attack,” Though The Cause Is Not Yet Known
On Tuesday, Beirut was rocked by a massive explosion causing massive distraction and leaving many dead and injured. As of Wednesday morning, the death toll has climbed to 100, while some 4,000 people were reported to have been wounded by the massive blast at the city’s port, The Guardian reports.
RELATED: Multiple People Injured Following Explosion At A Florida Mall
Following the tragic event, US President Donald Trump weighed in on the incident and claimed it was likely “an attack.” During his evening press briefing where he first offered sympathy to the Lebanese people, he said it “looks like a terrible attack.” When asked by a reporter to clarify his comment, the president said his military advisers “seemed to feel” the incident was an attack based on the type of explosion. “I’ve met with some of our great generals and they just seemed to feel that it was,” Trump said. “This was not some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event … They would know better than I would, but they seem to think it was an attack — it was a bomb of some kind, yes,” Business Insider quotes.
Despite that, Lebanese officials said Tuesday afternoon that the cause of the explosion has yet to be officially determined. Though Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said it might have been caused by highly explosive material that was stored at the port after it was confiscated from a ship.
“We will not relax until we find the responsible party for what happened, hold it accountable and apply the most serious punishments against it because it isn’t acceptable that a shipment of ammonium nitrate — estimated to be 2,750 tons — was in a depot for the past six years without precautionary measures being taken,” said Prime Minister Diab, according to a statement by the Lebanese Higher Defense Council. Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s general security service also warned against speculation that the explosion was related to terrorism, according to The New York Times.
Press Play Below For More:
RELATED: Donald Trump Suggests Jeffrey Epstein Might Have Been Killed
Source